Twenty-second Annual Meeting. 25 



depths of three hundred to nine hundred feet, and having small but constant flow 

 of mineralized water. In these wells the conditions of hydrostatic pressure appear 

 to be absent, and in only one is there any show of gas; and for these and other wells 

 the writer assigned a cause not usually found, for artesian flow. He called it rock- 

 pressure, and said: "All rocks in the earth's crust contain some water. The more 

 porous rocks contain the greater quantity. At a distance below the surface, the 

 superincumbent mass subjects the rock masses to enormous pressure. If we assume 

 that the rocks of Kansas to a depth of one thousand feet have an average specific 

 gravity three times as great as that of water, we are probably within bounds, asi 

 though limestones and sandstones are usually somewhat less, the presence of iron 

 in many of the beds will bring up the average considerably. On this basis, a prism 

 of the rocks to the depth of 600 feet and one inch square would weigh 781 pounds, 

 which is equivalent to a pressure of 52 atmospheres. If then 25 feet be taken as 

 the measure of a column of these mineralized waters equivalent to one atmosphere, 

 the rock-pressure would be more than the equivalent of a column of water twice 

 this height. 



"Let a water-bearing stratum at a depth of 600 feet be pierced by the drill; we 

 should then have the rock-pressure of 52 atmospheres squeezing the water out of 

 the rock-pores, and, granting sufficient plasticity in the rock, and a sufficient quan- 

 tity of water, it must rise in the tube, which has only the pressure of one atmosphere 

 upon it. A large bore to the well and a small supply of water would be against its 

 reaching the surface. On the other hand, a bed-rock with mobile molecules at or 

 near saturation, under this enormous pressure, must cause in a narrow tube a flow- 

 ing well. At 300 feet the rock- pressure would be only half that given above, or 26 

 atmospheres, and the column of water to be supported would be diminished in pro- 

 portion. At other depths the same proportions will hold good. 



"Here, then, we have a force that may be an aid to an artesian flow, which is 

 mainly due to the usual causes of such flow, and which is a most efficient cause for 

 the constant flow of wells whose depth is great, and whose quantity of water is 

 small. We are inclined to consider rock-pressure as the cause of the flow of the 

 Pottawatomie and Morton county wells — at least till future search shall make it 

 more probable that it is due to the usual causes of artesian wells." 



SOME KANSAS MINERAL WATEKS. 



BY PROF. E. H. S. BAILEY, STATE UNIVERSITY. 

 Although this is a comparatively new State, its resources have been wonderfully 

 developed within the past ten years. In common with other possible sources of 

 wealth, the mineral waters have received much attention. Some of them flow frona 

 springs, while others are obtained from wells both shallow and artesian. In order 

 that a permanent record may be made of the analysis of some of these waters, the 

 author has selected some of the more important ones, that have been examined in 

 the laboratory of the State University, and presents the analyses for publication. 



MAEION MINEBAL WELLS. 



These wells, or more properly this well, is situated in the northern part of Marion, 

 about fifty feet from a small creek. The well, which was drilled as a prospect well, is 

 175 feet deep, and has two pumps; the first takes the water from a depth of 50 feet, 

 at a point just above the rock, and the other takes the water from a point 25 feet 

 above the bottom. Both contain some hydrogen sulphide gas when first drawn. 

 The temperature is 57° F. The waters are utilized, the upper for drinking and the 



